Invincibilty Of Choice
by chipmunkwashere
Summary: Fate brought them together, friendship united them, what will undo them? The time was upon her. With eyes claiming final judgment, Yuna must choose which best friend shall die this night…
1. Prologue

**The Invincibility Of Choice**

Prologue

It was a curse all along.

Responsible, easy going, sympathetic; remarkable virtues to attain but not the reason Fate had chosen her to lead YRP. Her purpose of that position was now so clear. Now that she stood before her 'friends,' in unmoving concord with the winds. Twin pistols were grasped tremblingly in her sweaty hands, index fingers teasing the triggers with shaky brushes. Each handgun shaft stared between the eyes of its 'enemy.' One 'enemy' standing ten feet to Yuna's forward, left and another, the same distance to her right.

Rikku, her green eye acknowledged. Would it be her? After what she had done to her, the decision would be completely justifiable. And it would feel real damn good too. Anger outweighed the accumulation of all other emotions she held towards Rikku. But it wasn't anger alone that drove her so. Cousin, she thought, disgusted as she sneered internally. Just as family was no drawback for what she had done, so it would be no obstruction for her demise.

Paine, her blue eye acknowledged. Perhaps her day had come. Secretive, so damn secretive. She would have never guessed that her outlandish fellow Gullwing housed such... such... she couldn't even summon the word. She was truly worthy of the doomed providence Yuna would willingly hand to her. It would give her all the time in hell – literarily – to reflect on her gluttony.

One shot, one love and one life would be taken today. Must be taken today. Fate chose her, the leader of YRP, to make the decision. Leader, something she had always been proud of. It was a gift to be blessed with such friends. Or at least ... it had been.

It was a curse all along.

The huge overhead clock withered one of their lives away with its ticks and tocks. The time was upon her. She had to do it before time ran out.

It was a good thing she didn't need any more time to make her inflexible decision.

"I'm sorry..." Yuna voiced faintly. Judgemental darkness surrounded her as she shut her eyes. A tear, pure as her heart, ran down her cheek.

Unexpectedly, a smile took her lips. Sorry, she complained to herself one last time. A loud bang shook all their ears as she let fly one of her bullets.


	2. Chronicle I, Part 1

**Preview**

Yuna is forced to make the hardest decision in her life, killing one of two of her best friends. How did she get to this position? Who does she inevitably kill? And Why?

**Author's Notes**

Disclaimer: I don't own any Final Fantasy Characters or anything mentioned from the franchise. This story was written for non-profitable purposes so please just read and enjoy people.

Welcome to Final Fantasy X-2 Fic. You might recognize this story as I previously submitted under another account. After much thought, I've decided to dig it up and finish it. The glimpse of the end is told in the prologue and now, the events that led up to the conclusion will be told. Enjoy the first Chronicle. And Please Review.

** The Invincibility of Choice **

.: A Tactless Tales Production :.

**Chronicle II, Part 1 – Digging Up The Past, Forming and Breaking Ties**

_One Month Prior… _

Crumbs of sand drifted in the blistering atmosphere, draining the women and beasts that were engaging each other in battle.

The winds wailed from the cut of air of the swift blade, its razor-sharp edge easily cutting through the fur, flesh and bone of its enemy's powerful, apelike arm. Before the Hrimthur could groan about the disjointed part of its limb - that had now fallen to the desert's sand, its neck learned that it was the next pit stop on the blade's berserk course.

A horizontal line of red, running around the circumference of its neck, was the only proof that anything had penetrated its thick, furry collar. Its head slid off its hinges, lubricated by dark, crimson blood, and finally touched sandy ground. Dark eyes shut in defeat but its legs carried its body forward drunkenly for one last attack, unguided by the necessity of vision. But the fountains of red shooting from the northern opening of its torso had become too much, even for its determined vengeance. Inevitably, the Hrimthur dropped dead, ravaged neck pouring out blood before the black boots of its killer.

Paine stepped away from the downed enemy threatening to stain her boots. Not too long, its corpse drifted away with the flares of Pyreflies.

"Paine, look out!"

She swung around at the warning, blood-dripping sword whipping around in her grasp. Grey eyes caught the charging beak only inches away from her forehead. She gasped, realising her inability to move quick enough. Even if she could move that fast, the close proximity of the aerial fiend was against her lengthy sword.

A loud bang shook the air.

Before it knew it, a bullet had found its home in the Divebeak's chest, driving the bird to the ground from its force. Scorching sand irritated the space between its colourful feathers. With one last flap of its wing, it gave out, letting the Pyreflies carry it away from the realm of the living.

That was close. Looking past the haze of floating sand, Paine found Yuna. She sent a half-smile of thanks to her saviour. Yuna smiled and winked, smoking guns in her hands still aiming Paine's way.

Despite the intimacy Paine shared with the near death experience, that was all the thanks she was willing to give for the fortunate outcome. And all the thanks Yuna was willing to accept. The countless battles they endured had softened the reality of life to a certain extent.

"Whoa!"

The noisy one, Paine thought.

Rikku came flipping backwards gymnastically, dodging the barbaric fists of two Hrimthurs with each flip. After performing several flips, she landed crouched down in the space between Yuna and Paine, and pulled out two thief daggers from her waist. Using all the force she could, she stabbed the Hrimthurs just above their knees.

The steel dug deep into their lower thighs, forcing them to groan and drop down to their knees in pain. With the fiends now at eyelevel with Rikku, she performed another back flip, dislodging her impaled daggers with her momentous feet and springing them incredibly high into the air.

"HA!" She enforced as she leaped into the air and performed a broad roundhouse kick, her boot connecting with the Hrimthurs' cheeks as it swung by. The Hrimthurs were hurled metres away, and sure not to provide any more disturbance. Slowly, she rose from her crouch to face Yuna and Paine. They looked at her worriedly for some reason. Why were they worrying? … OH!

Swishes of air poured from above, captivating Rikku's ears in dire interest. She looked down and frowned, concentrating the hardest her friends had probably seen her. With each swish, she approximated their position and waited … there! She stretched out her arms to either side lighting quickly, catching her falling daggers by the hilts perfectly, as if they weren't moving at all.

Yuna and Paine gasped together, relieved.

"Hey!" Rikku complained, putting her hands on her hips. "Don't act like that! It was one time! One time I forgot!"

"Tell that to Brother's poor foot," Paine said with her arms crossed. "I doubt he'll be asking you to entertain his guests ever again. Not with your juggling abilities anyway."

Yuna giggled but then realised something. "Oh man, that means he's going to be asking me to sing for them all the time!"

"C'mon Paine." Rikku span her daggers around. "That was like long time ago! His foot's all healed up now. Plus, I was an amateur back then," she admitted, spinning the short blades behind her back now. "These days, I'm a master!"

Master of what exactly? Paine thought. But she simply shook her head, not wanting to air her doubt of Rikku's importance. She reached into her pocket and got out a crimson handkerchief to clean the red off her silver blade.

"Oh," Rikku said, seeing what Paine was doing. "So she does have a little girly side to her."

"What?" Paine asked, as if she hadn't heard a word Rikku said.

"You like things clean." Rikku handed Paine her daggers. "Do these for me too while your at it."

Paine had sort of softened her tough spirit since the first day she met her, Yuna thought. She watched as Paine accepted Rikku's weapons. They were behaving more like friends everyday.

"HEY!"

Yuna looked for the reason behind Rikku's complaint and found Paine wiping clean Rikku's daggers with her own green skirt. Oh well … At least they weren't trying to kill each other.

Yuna wiped off a tear of sweat from her brow. She looked up, hand forming a bridge above her eyes for protection against the sun's blazing smile. In the light-blue clear skies, a tiny, red, crab-like plane drifted along. Although, from her distance, it hardly looked like it was moving at all.

Brother and Buddy were up there waiting for them. It was probably time they got what they came to Bikanel Desert for in the first place. "Rikku," Yuna called. "The map?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Rikku saluted her. She bent over and retrieved a rolled up scroll from her boot.

"Well, where is it?" Paine dropped the scarlet handkerchief and placed the sparkling, silver blade over her shoulder.

Rikku unrolled the map and investigated it, biting her lip as she did so. "I think … it's … oh! You're standing right on top of it, Yunie!"

"Really?" Yuna said, surprised. She dropped down and began digging in the sand.

"Wow, Rikku," Paine said, sounding impressed. "When'd you learn to do **_that?_**"

"Do what?" The blonde girl scratched her head.

"Read," Paine said bluntly.

Rikku crossed her arms. "I wouldn't be so impressed if I were you," she said in a low voice.

"Oh, of course." Paine was unfazed by the little temper she could sense in Rikku. "You're right, Rikku. It's only a map after all. It's not like it actually has any words on it."

"Would you two quit it already," Yuna said, still shuffling sand aside. "You've been acting so bitchy towards each other today. What's wrong with you?" But they didn't answer her. "Whatever it is, just keep your panties on and help me out here."

"Impossible," Paine said.

Yuna looked up to her and Rikku was shocked too. Paine wasn't always the buddy-buddy type but she always did her part to complete the mission.

Paine dropped her sword and was about to drop to her knees, but she could still feel the heaviness of their stares. "What?" They continued to look at her. "Fine." She gasped, defeated. "I didn't want to say it but you both pushed me. What I meant was that it would be impossible to keep her panties on because Rikku probably isn't wearing any."

Yuna rolled her eyes and continued digging.

"Oh yeah?" Rikku protested. "What are these then?" She said to Paine, pulling on the thin yellow straps extending out the top of her skirt.

"Yes, those are real classy Rikku," Paine said sarcastically, now helping Yuna search the ground. "I'm sure all your customers appreciate it"

Rikku grumbled curses beneath her breadth before dropping to the play in the sand too.

Yuna turned to look at her friend. "You know what I was impressed with, Rikku? That kick you gave those Hrimthurs. You sent them good and on their way. For a girl your size, that's pretty impressive."

"Yeah well, you know me," Rikku said, feeling chuffed. "Anyone can do it really. You just gotta learn to channel your ki into your attacks. A real karate prof taught me back in Kilika. Maybe I'll introduce you to him some day."

"Maybe…"

After several minutes of playing in the hot soil, Rikku breaking a nail and Paine raking out sand Rikku 'accidentally' threw in her eyes, Yuna's finger finally hit something concrete. The gleam of success shone in her eyes. Feeling more determined than ever, she relentlessly tossed aside huge heaps of sand.

The three girls were dazzled by its brilliant blue as it lay there. Yuna picked it up, discovering that it was as flat as a coin but shaped precisely like a six-sided diamond. She blew away its coat of sand and held it in an open palm so all the Gullwings could see it.

"The Azure Apula."

"Whoopee! We did it!" Rikku celebrated by jumping up and down. "Gullwings are go!"

Humph, Paine grumbled. With the way Rikku was dressed she wouldn't be surprised if people thought that sentence should've ended with 'hoes' instead. She didn't know why she felt so angry towards Rikku at the moment but she just couldn't help it.

"Well," came Yuna's voice. "Three more of these Apula thingies and the Fayth **_must_** fulfil their promise."

Rikku put a hand on Yuna's shoulder. "At the rate we're going, Tidus will be back in no time!"

"Don't get too confident." The words of caution came from Paine. "This is just the first one. I doubt the Fayth would ask us, of all people, to gather the Apulai if they felt any Tom, Dick or Harry, or Rikku, could handle it. My bet is that it's going to get a lot more dangerous from now on."

"My bet is that Paine won't be having any more teeth to talk with in a couple of seconds," Rikku said coldly and extremely out of character. She threateningly punched her palm as she approached Paine.

"GUYS!" Yuna shouted out loud.

Rikku stopped in her tracks and turned around, only to see a blaze of white zip right in front of Yuna. Her worry quickly faded away though, as she realised her cousin was still standing in place, in the exact same position actually … with her hand still held out … and … ah! It was gone! "Where'd the Apula go, Yunie?"

"I-I…" Yuna was panicking, searching her pockets and looking all around her feet.

"Heads up," Paine said, shrugging her head in the direction behind Yuna.

Yuna span around. Past the low gusts of sand and rock, a white form became apparent. As it rose to its feet, they quickly realised it was a seven-foot man. His white cloak was draped over his back entirely; from his hooded head down to his white boots. He turned around, face hidden within the shadows of the hood. "Thank you. We shall take it from here," an awfully deep and dead tone came from beneath the hood.

"No! We found it first!" Yuna drew her pistols and took aim.

The first thing she noticed about him was the tall sickle he held in his right arm. Paine lifted her sword from the sand and stood in alert. Rikku did the same with her thief daggers.

"You don't know what you're asking for. Save yourselves from making the last mistake you'll ever make."

His voice sent shivers down Rikku's spine. Sweat from the fear surfaced on her forehead, joining the perspiration caused from the desert's own heat. Maybe, just this once, they shouldn't be looking for trouble.

Yuna's eyes were locked on target just as her pistols were. She embraced the reason for all this too much to give up.

"Trouble?" A voice came from behind the cloaked man. Two men arrived to his side. One wore long, blue and green shorts and a matching open t-shirt. He held a curved bladed broadsword in one hand. "Huh?" He scratched the back of his head as soon as he saw the silver-haired girl standing at the back of the three. "Am I seeing things?"

Paine blinked, not trusting what her eyes were telling her either. The man had the same spiky, orange hair ever since … And it seemed time hadn't done his face wrong in the least.

"What are you looking at?" Rikku said to him, agitated by the stares of the three men.

"Whoa!" The redhead exclaimed as he took notice of Rikku. Her slender figure in that scanty outfit … he could only imagine all types of wicked things. But knowing his luck, this was all probably just one of the desert's stupid mirages. As silly as it would sound if it weren't the case, he decided to ask anyway. "Are you for real?"

"No, I'm a highly advanced CGI image created to entice the senses of all men who set eyes on me to the extent that they forget that I'm nothing more than a product of superior graphics technology," Rikku said, sarcastically. "OF COURSE I'M REAL!"

"Well, in that case…" The young man's fingers played in his shorts' pocket, reaching all around its shallow depths. He pulled out a blue note and a bunch of gold and silver coins. Having counted the amount with his finger, he scratched the back of his head, disappointed. "I've got a little more than a hundred gil. I really hope it's enough. How much do you charge? For … let's say an hour? Kind of a quickie for me but that's all I can afford right now."

They were all saved from silence by the whistling desert winds. Then, something else hit Yuna's ears. Something that had become so rare that it was now a monumental event whenever it occurred. She looked to the corners of her eyes, trying to get a glimpse of it. Could it really be? No! Could it be … Paine was actually **_giggling?_**

Redness began to build up in Rikku's face from the animalistic anger that threatened to escape in another means.

"Huh?" Yuna turned back to see the boy chuckling too. Wow, he actually managed to make Paine laugh. Yuna was sad it had to be at the expense of Rikku but felt a little happy for Paine at the same time.

"Enough!" The hooded man spoke, his voice ricocheting to the ends of the desert. His hood fell back, revealing a dark-skinned man. A scar ran diagonally just under his left, green eye. Everyone had fallen quiet at his command. "Runy, do you know any of these women?" he asked the redhead by his side.

"Well, one of them…" Runy said, his reddish brown eyes tried to remember Paine at a younger age. She still had the same sense of humour but apart from that, he probably didn't know her in the least anymore. And this wasn't the time anyway. "I used to know one of them. But that's in the past, sir."

Paine was strangely saddened by his words.

"Very well." The leader of the men looked hard at each of the Gullwings. Perhaps they deserved an explanation. They had found one of the Apula after all. They couldn't be utterly useless. "Ladies, I am Amu, leader of the Dragonites. We are an elite team of sphere and treasure hunters. To my right, meet Runy."

Runy bowed forward.

"He's a specialist in swordsmanship and possesses remarkable potential to be great in future. To my left is Klamour."

A man with silky, mauve strands of hair falling before his face stepped forth. His red business suit seemed inappropriate for the location but somehow the Gullwings didn't think he worried about things like that. He brought forward a hand he was hiding behind his back. The girls understood why he chose to keep it hidden.

The slimy, green lizard hand held his belly as he gave a bow. Blisters and yellow boils were scattered across its surface and four long claws extended from each of its nails. The Gullwings could see purple lips but his long hair hid the other features of his extremely pale skin. Without a word, he stepped back to Amu's left side.

"Klamour isn't exactly the talkative type but when it comes down to business, his claws provide all the conversation necessary." Amu's lips twisted into a sinister half-smile.

"Ha! We've got one of those!" Rikku said, undoubtedly referring to Paine. "Minus the creepy hand though…" She shivered.

"We don't care about that!" Yuna exclaimed. The heat was really getting her now. She wanted to leave as soon as possible. With the Apula! "Surely, Amu, you're not telling us you achieved your elite rank by stealing others' treasures!"

"How dare you even suggest –" Runy started, but was cut short by a wave of his leader's arm.

Amu's grin faded away. He held the Apula in his open palm. "Yuna, the almighty High Summoner herself." He chuckled. "I'm sure you didn't reach your status by living of pure ignorance. But there are some things even the likes of you wouldn't understand. Take this for example," he held the Apula between a finger and a thumb. "Do you even know what it is you are hunting?"

Yuna couldn't honestly answer 'yes' to that question. "I believe in the reason and that's all that matters."

"What's reason without purpose?" He said angrily. "You are unaware of why the Fayth has asked you of this task, yet you continue to behave like their good little errand girls."

A chill ran through Yuna's skin, making her from the jolt of coldness even in the blazing heat. Her trembling fists lowered the pistols. He was right.

"That's right. I know it is the Fayth that has sent you on this mission," Amu revealed. "And unlike you, I can say what it is they plan on doing with the four Apulai. For that reason alone, I should be the one to handle them. Your unawareness of the matter could have disastrous effects you wouldn't even be able to predict without my knowledge. For the sake of Spira, and your own lives, dismiss yourselves from this mission. I give you the comfort of my word that the Dragonites will effectively handle the situation."

How did he know about the Fayth giving them the mission? To her knowledge, she was the only one that knew the details. It left Yuna wondering just what else Amu knew about her. And what else he knew that he wasn't telling them.

"Now." Amu hooded his bold scalp once again. "We shall take our leave. Should you feel the need to interfere, we will gladly have you buried in the very sands you dug this Apula from."

And so they turned around. Rikku and Paine came rushing over to Yuna, who was helplessly sitting in the sand.

"What do we do, Yuna?" Rikku asked. "They sound pretty dangerous. I don't think we could win even if we did try."

Paine looked down at Yuna, grey eyes back to their serious selves. "You're the leader, Yuna. We're behind you whatever you say."

The Dragonites began walking away. Yuna was panicking inside herself and thankful that none of the girls could see it in her outward façade. Tidus. This was all for him. They could die challenging Amu. But living without Tidus was not much of a life anyway. She had to do it, even though she admittedly felt terrible about dragging her two closest friends in this. But perhaps that's what they wanted. That's what they always told her anyway.

She stood up immediately and took aim to the back of Amu's head. Both Rikku and Paine nodded together, and then drew their own weapons. The Gullwings took two steps forward before a blaze of blue zipped in front of Amu and came flipping right before them. What now?

A figure was crouched in the sand. It stood up, revealing an oppressively feminine shape in tight-fitting, navy swimsuit armour. Her tanned skin almost camouflaged perfectly in the golden-brown desert sand. Intensely dark, brown hair fluttered in the wind as she took steps towards the Gullwings, black cape billowing behind her. Without a word, she opened a gloved hand, presenting the Azure Apula resting on her palm.

Yuna looked at it amazed. She was so shocked that she couldn't find the courage to take it without the mystery woman shrugging to encourage her acceptance. "Thanks-thanks." She immediately deposited the Apula in a sachet tied to her belt. She looked up to the woman, defiant brown eyes on a friendly face.

"Don't you remember me?"

Yuna gulped, afraid she had forgotten who could be the most important person in her life after having retrieved the Apula for her. Familiarity hung in her fair cheeks and slightly pointy nose but Yuna couldn't put together all the clues to form an identifiable face.

"MILANO!" Terror pervaded the air within Amu's voice. Angry stomps pushed the heavy sand down, getting ever so closer to their target.

"One moment." Milano smiled promisingly to Yuna. She twirled around just quick enough to swoop below the sharp beak of his sickle, tips of her hair being cut off. She evaded two more swings that would have cut her into two clean peaces before drawing the cobalt staff strapped to her back.

Their weapons clashed as she parried his relentless attempts to behead her. Milano caught his sickle with a horizontally placed staff. Each struggled to push back the other, then, she realised, there was no better time than now. "Amu, this is it," she said through gritted teeth. "Time for you to pay up what you owe me."

"Now!" He gritted his teeth in return. Fighting all the urges in his body to push her back and eliminate her, he groaned loudly and broke the grapple, hurling his sickle's blade into the sand. He bowed his forehead against the bar of his weapon, flaming gasps of air exiting his mouth - not out of fatigue but out of frustration. "Fine." The glow in his green eyes died out. "I'm a man of my word. It's yours for now. Consider all ties between us vanquished."

"Of course," Milano said, putting her staff back in the sheath resting on her back. "I understand. This is how I choose to use my favour."

"Next time we meet there will be nothing holding me back from my destiny." With that, Amu turned and walked back to his men. As a trio, they disappeared into the distance.

Now she remembered. Yuna and Milano fell into each others' arms. Paine lowered her sword, resting its tip into the ground. Rikku wiggled left and right in that eccentric dance she usually did when excited about something. She wondered what connection her cousin shared with Milano. Maybe she'd turn out to be one of her cousins too.

After what seemed like hours, the two finally broke the embrace. Rikku just caught a glimpse of Milano's half-smile, her brown eyes tinged with something she couldn't quite identify. Yuna hadn't seen it.

"Oh, how silly of me," Yuna said, wiping clear a tear of joy. "Rikku and Paine, this is Milano. A childhood friend of mine."

"Hiya! I'm Rikku, Yuna's favourite cousin!"

"I'm Paine," she said, offering her hand. "Any friend of Yuna's is a friend of ours."

Milano shook the welcoming hand. "Nice to meet you all." She smiled at Yuna's emotional face. "It's been long time since I've seen your friend here. She and I were inseparable back when we were toddlers. Much before Yuna was encouraged to fulfil her destiny of being a Summoner. Once she left for Besaid I never saw her again. Until today."

Paine felt her forehead. It was burning up from all the sun's attention. "I don't mean to cut this reunion short but you think we could postpone it to some other time or some other place at least. I feel like a gingerbread man in an oven."

"Oh," Yuna just remembered how hot it really was. "Why don't you come aboard our ship for dinner tonight? I'm dying to do catch up!"

"Well, I'd love to," Milano replied. "But I'm not alone. I travel by sea and I left my companion back at the Oasis. Have you got room for one more?"

"Of course, we do!" Yuna would have answered the same regardless.

"In that case … I can't wait!"

** End of Chronicle 1, Part 1 **


	3. Chronicle I, Part 2

**Quick Backtrack**

_After defeating a handful of Hrimthurs and Divebeaks, the Gullwings succeeded in finding the Azure Apula. Their success was shortly lived however when Amu and his team of Dragonites snatched the prize away from them. An old friend of Yuna's came to the rescue, retrieving the Azure Apula for her. She accepts an invitation to dinner with the Gullwings…_

**Author's Notes**

Disclaimer: I don't own any Final Fantasy Characters or anything mentioned from the franchise. This story was written for non-profitable purposes so please just read and enjoy people. Amu, Runy, Klamour and Milano are mine. :)

Now for the second part of the first chronicle.

** The Invincibility of Choice **

.: A Tactless Tales Production :.

**Chronicle I, Part 2 – Digging Up The Past, Forming and Breaking Ties**

_One Month Prior… _

Misty aroma climbed the air from bustling pots, tantalising the taste buds of the brewers with meaty pleasure. Their own melodic whistles distracted the Gullwings from the dreary thuds of knives against cutting boards and from the bubbling of cookery vessels.

Rikku fought her impatient stomach's groans as she chopped up onions and tomatoes. Unfortunately, fighting her tears from the onions' glares wasn't as straightforward. She often found herself damping her white apron with her eyes' leakages. But she pushed on, her being telling her it was all for a good cause, and her tummy telling her the results would cause much good.

Yuna rubbed the suds against dirtied plates, ensuring nothing but pearly white was left to shine before wiping them dry and placing them aside. She smiled at the simplicity of the job and enjoyed the warm tap water pouring all over her hands. This was the least appreciated chore, mostly because the idea of dirty pots daunted the other girls. But they didn't realise that pots were actually the easiest to get clean – provided Brother hadn't attempted to actually 'cook' something in them of course.

Her foamy hand caught grip of a wineglass, and she used her other to plunge a sponge into its open summit, smudging creamy bubbles against its clear inner walls. Carelessness, or overconfidence perhaps, had her swiftly extract her hand, leaving nothing but a slippery grip on the glass. The firm-less grip led to disaster.

The fragile cup slide between her fingers, shattering as it met the tiled floor. Concerned eyes quickly found her uneasy smile.

"You okay, Yunie?" Rikku asked through red, teary eyes.

"Yeah … are you?" She said, taking notice of her cousin's troubled eyes. But once Rikku pointed to the small slices of onion, Yuna lost her worry. Not for long however, as she spotted the scattered glass at her feet. "Don't worry. I'll take care of this mess."

Paine nodded in agreement. "Careful," she cautioned before turning back to face her own task. Her hand was moistened from the rising steam as she stirred the beefy soup with a long spoon. Bits of brown bisque dripped back into the boiling puddle, escaping the pond swooped aboard the rising spoon. She whispered the sample cool then brought it to meet her lips for a humble slurp.

Perfect. Only the finishing touches remained. She gripped a tin of pre-cut vegetables she had opened earlier and held its mouth above the pot. Using a teaspoon, she began to deposit each carrot, pea, and potato snip one by one into her masterpiece.

Then, unexpectedly, a loud ringing shook her pocket, shocking her into dropping the remainder of the tinned vegetables all at once. A huge splash erupted from the sudden plummet, little specs of soup shooting at her cheeks. She quickly cleared the irritation of the minor burning with a thumb. She used her apron to wipe her hands clean before digging into her pocket for her ringing cell phone.

'Unknown Number.' The caller ID function was useless in determining the caller. She had better take it elsewhere. "Yuna," she said to the lady crouched down sweeping up fragments of glass. "Please watch this for me while I'm out. I've got to take this call."

Paine left the kitchen with curious eyes fixed on the phone's screen. She found a dark, secluded corner and pressed the answer button. "Who is this?"

"_Who is this?_ What a way to greet an old friend."

The voice had deepened from what her ears were use to, but the arrogance still lived well in his words. "Runy."

"So you **_do_** remember my name. Heh, had me worried for a second there."

The memories all came flooding back. She had to smile. "Of course I do. It's a pity I can't the same for you."

"Huh?" He left Paine with radio air for entertainment as he tried to make sense of her accusation. How could he have forgotten her if he was the one calling her? Long seconds passed before he understood. "Bikanel Desert. I should have known you'd give me grief about that."

"Yeah, that!" Paine said, airing her angered disappointment. "What are you doing hanging out with that huge, green-eyed, freaky thief anyway? And that repulsive lizard hand…"

"What! Master Amu is NOT a thief! And that hand is by no means … oh hell. Even I gotta admit it is kinda disgusting. Try sitting at a dinner table with that thing, it's guaranteed to kill your appetite. That's why I always eat my dinner up on deck."

Giggles.

"But Paine, one thing you must know is that Amu isn't a bad guy in the least. He's just a little … serious at times."

"A little?"

"You know what I mean! He doesn't like it when non-mission events infringe our well-thought-out plans. The whole me knowing you thing … our relationship…"

Dying hope heated up Paine's heart at the thought. But its brief resurrection was frozen back to gentle coldness. She realised its time had come and gone.

"Not quite the word…" He thought. "Our association, I should say, is considered non-mission. That's why I didn't want to dwell on those memories in the master's presence. But for the record, I still do feel like I know you. Do you think that's possible? At all? … Sharlome?"

"No..." she immediately blurted out a sigh. "I've changed too much. I'm not the same little girl you befriended." It took real bravery to say those words.

"Oh…"

"And please, call me Paine."

He fell silent for a second. "Understood." It was all about business now. "Well, Paine. I'm sure you are wondering why I called you and where I got this number for that matter. But that's of no concern. And I'm pretty confident you know why I'm talking to you right now."

There was no doubt in her mind. "I know what I owe you and I'm willing to fulfil my promise at your command. But don't expect me to tell you why I left back then. I'm not going to apologise for events out of my control."

"I understand … Paine. All I ask is what is due to me."

"In that case what is it that you want?"

"Listen. This is what I need from you…"

And so she listened to his every word, nodding her head in agreement at the tasks she was given.

Unknown to Paine however, a pair of stray ears continued to capture her conversation in a stealthy manner.

ooOOoo

Brother slouched back, legs spread out lazily aside the chair as he picked between his teeth with a toothpick. Relatively empty plates, glasses and bowls were scattered across the lengthy table before him. He loved having visitors over for meals. It meant the girls were going to be cooking!

Barkeep had his moments, but nothing won his stomach's heart more than the touch of feminine hands. Yuna's hands, he liked to believe. He felt his belly overflowed with the amazing food but his heart could never be overflowed with anything Yuna. People would give him grief about his uncontrollable feelings, but to him, she wasn't directly blood-related and that made it okay.

Oh how Rikku would be scolding him right now if she could read his mind.

"Great."

"She is isn't she?" The private thought slipped out as a result of his half-dazed state. Just remembering the presence across the table, he quickly snapped up, back upright against the chair and toothpick dropping to the ground. He wiped clean the drowsiness on his face before looking at his company. "What did you say?"

"The meal … it was great." The young woman said, settling her fork and knife on the plate.

"Oh, the meal, of course, great!" Brother caught the slightest light of confusion in her brown eyes, but thankfully it was quickly replaced with easiness. He noticed how her brunette locks fell just above her eyebrows, leaving only a small 'V' of forehead visible. She wasn't actually bad looking at all - even as he inevitably compared her to Yuna. Maybe he should try to learn more about the girl Milano brought aboard with her.

"So, Tiara," he started, tapping the table as he thought of something to talk about. "You say you're a Sphere Hunter too?"

"Yeah, ever since Milano introduced to me to Sphere Hunting I just loved it! I was fifteen when I started and four years later … I mean look at me now! I've seen so many things all over Spira and met so many people. Travelling is just really a great experience, you get to…"

Brother was easily lost in her rapid and seemingly never-ending streams of sentences. Making conversation was much easier than he anticipated. All he had to do now was wait for her motor to stop running so he could ask her another question. Meanwhile, he would take the time to appreciate her beauty.

"…but that's just how I feel. What about you? You enjoy Sphere Hunting?"

"Yeah," he said bluntly. Very soon however, he felt his 'sufficient' response wouldn't do her mouth much justice. "So, Tiara, what kind of Dresspheres are you familiar with?"

"Oh, I am so glad you asked! Most guys only worry about what's underneath them and don't appreciate how much time and effort it takes to get myself this beautiful. Well, my first Dresshpere – which is also my favourite – is the Archer. I was always a good shot as a kid and…"

It wasn't hard for Brother to see why guys took a liking to her. It wasn't just her opinion … she really was beautiful. And the way the words kept rolling off her tongue. This time it was her mouth that stole his attention - not because of what was coming out of it of course! It was her luscious, cherry lips, bouncing vibrantly that peaked his admiration.

"…get on my bad side and I might just have to switch to Gunmage! But don't worry, I can control my anger pretty well. Gullwings have any favourite Dresspheres?"

Damn it! Her tank just ran out. He had to think of something quick. "Well, you'll have to ask them. Erm," he stalled as he thought of something else. "Erm – er – you're really pretty."

"Well, thank you!"

He waited. But nothing else came. What? That's it? That was all she was going to say about his complement! How dare her, after all that mind searching. She just sat there with an innocent smile.

"You guys done?" Buddy walked to the table and began collecting the dirty dishes onto a tray. "Why are you still sitting at the table? Everyone else's up on deck, I think."

"I don't know actually." Brother admitted. On his account, he was half asleep thinking of the food Yuna cooked. He didn't even realise everyone had left until Tiara spoke up. "You know what, Buddy. I'm feeling kind of tired. I just wanna hit the sack. Need help with the dishes?" He offered, before deciding to go to bed.

"That's alright." Buddy said, holding a tray full of dishes due to the sink.

"I think I'm going to go up deck," Tiara told them. "The night's still young. But could you boys do me a favour before I go?"

"What?" They asked together.

Tiara stood up, letting her ruby, sleeveless skirt fall to her mid thighs. She reached to the ground besides her seat and picked up a long, fur sachet occupying several arrows, and a long bow. She put them on the table then, strangely, stepped on the chair with a long, brown boot.

All too sudden for Brother and Buddy, she peeled up her skirt extremely high, revealing a slim and slightly built thigh. She unwrapped a dagger-holding, brown band strapped around the thigh and put it with the other weapons on the table. Having unequipped herself, she grounded her legs, letting her skirt fall back to its normal place.

"Brother," she said. "Mind putting these somewhere for me? They can get a little uncomfortable sometimes." She dumped her arsenal on Brother's stretched out arms before whipping around, brown hair gliding with her before falling to her lower back.

Brother and Buddy watched in disbelief as her slender body carried itself to the elevator in the figure-hugging red dress. She waved them goodbye before the lift's doors shut their visual paradise away.

The two looked at each other, mouths still open. "On second thought, Brother. I'm going to take you up on that offer. You can do all the dishes! If you need me, I'll be up on deck."

"What?" Brother complained. "I was just saying that because I didn't want to be rude. Take these with you on your way to the kitchen!" he said, dumping her things on the table. With that, he made a break for the elevator, believing he had found a cure for Yuna.

Little did he know, Buddy was but two steps behind him and gaining!

ooOOoo

"Nowadays, my heart's with the seas."

Silver moonlight fell over Milano's body, preventing the night's pitch darkness from swallowing their bodies. Yuna was sitting beside her.

The full moon ruled the dark heavens, millions of tiny, bright specs populating its kingdom as loyal subjects of its reign. Misty layers of clouds were dispersed throughout, too thin to obstruct the blinking stars however.

"I prefer flying." Yuna turned to her old friend. Icy chills gently blew against her face, and past her ears, providing the melody to which her strands of hair gracefully danced to. "I love the air up here. The wind, the coolness, everything's just perfect."

Milano escaped from the addictive gaze she held to the skies and looked at Yuna. "To each, her own."

For every star in the sky there was a question Yuna wanted to ask. But given the fulfilling – for now – discussions they had already, she felt her tongue was going to fall off from fatigue. She relaxed, listening to the propellers cut the cold night air in peace.

"Being a Sphere Hunting is getting boring."

Milano's statement came from nowhere.

"Why do you say that?" Yuna disagreed.

"There's just no more competition," Milano responded. "Except for Amu and his boys that is. But they're rarely active. They haven't been in action for months until they learnt of the four Apulai."

Yuna pulled out the Azure Apula from her packet, and hugged the small, flat diamond against her chest. "Competition? I'd rather not have competition for this mission. Success too important for me." She pocketed the Apula again. "The only Sphere Hunting competition I can remember is Leblanc and her two goons."

"Leblanc?"

"Yeah, this really annoying Sphere Hunter," Yuna explained. "One time she stole this sphere that made her look exactly like me and went on to perform at my own concert! Thank goodness I got it back though." She sighed, relieved.

"Well, that's interesting. Tell me more."

"Okay."

And the two went on back and forth, exchanging moments and stories.

ooOOoo

Paine yawned, stretching her arms as she did so. It was about time she went to bed. Strangely, she felt the most incredible urge to take a walk atop the Celsius. She spent the most of her day inside the ship, making the notion of fresh air appear as fresh as it claimed.

She pressed the button on the lift that would take her to the top and waited patiently as it did. She yawned again the moment she stepped out. Laughs could be heard coming down the final stairs. Yuna was up there, and a voice she wasn't too familiar with but nevertheless knew it as Milano's.

They deserved to have their little peace together, probably just talking about girly things and embarrassing events that occurred in their pasts. Paine was about to make her way back to the lift when she spotted the shadow of a figure hidden deliberately behind an arc on the deck.

Her first instincts screamed intruder but upon closer inspection, she realised it was just a silly, nosy girl. She walked up the steps and crept up behind her. "Having fun, Rikku?"

Rikku jumped up from the shock. "Sssh! Don't scare me like that!" She turned back to peep over the corner.

Paine did the same and discovered the victims of her espionage were Yuna and Milano. It must have been real heart-breaking for Rikku to feel tossed aside by Yuna when some old friend decided to rock up on board. "I'm not even going to ask what you're up to. But I am glad I ran into you."

"You are?" Rikku said, surprised.

"I want to apologize for my behaviour today. I realise I was totally out of line when I criticised you about how you dress. If that's what you're most comfortable in then by all means go ahead."

"Ah, don't worry about it." Rikku pondered what could have driven such an apology. "Paine, apologizing? To me? That guy we saw in the desert must have really done a number you."

"It's not about that." She turned away.

"Sure it aint." Rikku winked.

It was kind of obvious Rikku held a little mistrust towards Milano, Paine believed. She descended the staircase, leaving Rikku to continue her little espionage game with arguably the wisest words she ever offered her. "Don't let the jealousy consume you. It could very well be your undoing if you persist."

Rikku shrugged off the advice as a non threat. She continued to do whatever it was she was doing out of Yuna and Milano's sight.

** End Of Chronicle 1, Part 2 **


	4. Chronicle II, Part 1

**Quick Backtrack**

_Paine received a call from Runy whom asked her to cash in the favour she owed him. After a fulfilling supper, Yuna and Milano sat on top of the Celsius and reminisced over old times. Unbeknownst to them, Rikku was eavesdropping on their every word and continued to do so even after Paine's advice not to…_

**Author's Notes**

Disclaimer: I don't own any Final Fantasy Characters or anything mentioned from the franchise. This story was written for non-profitable purposes so please just read and enjoy people. Adding to the previous list, Tiara is also mine. :)

And now for Chronicle II…

** The Invincibility of Choice **

.: A Tactless Tales Production :.

**Chronicle II, Part 1 – The Pursuit For Jade**

_3 Weeks Prior…_

Blue eyes blinked awake. A sweaty darkness shrouded the space around her, hints of passion trapped in the stuffy air beneath the sheets. With a soft groan, Leblanc poked her head out of the blankets and proceeded with a stretch of her arms. In union with her yawn, a grumpy moan came from the body beside her. She froze in place respectfully, letting the heap to her side roll into a more comfortable position. Thankfully, it wasn't long before sleep had dawned over him once more.

Leblanc tiptoed out of bed as carefully as she could, doing her best not to stir him again. Late morning was hardly the time she'd usually wake up but Nooj always had a way of making her do things out of the norm - not that it was something to complain about. She wrapped the silk gown around her body and stepped into a pair of bunny slippers.

Admiration tingled in her waking face as she watched him sleep peacefully, his soft snores composing a soothing song for her ears. The surprise wasn't going to prepare itself, she realised. Saluting him with a final weak smile, she turned and snuck out the room.

The stairs were uncooperative, creaking at the slightest touch of descending toes. When she finally overcame the last step, she looked back up and gave a triumphant smile. The carpeted living room floor made the rest of the journey safe and soundless. After side stepping a few items of furniture, Leblanc arrived in the kitchen. She smiled again, anticipating the look on his face when he received his breakfast in bed.

The morning kitchen was yet to be attended to by servant hands, reminding her of the generous mood she must've been in to give them the next few days off. Scraps of the previous night's wealthy dinner sat untouched on several plates scattered across the centre table, and mountains of dirty dishes stood tall in the double sink. Surprisingly, it wasn't as horrible as she thought it would be. Not even the random splats staining the marble tiles could blemish her spirit.

Leblanc's smile stubbornly stuck onto her face as she began humming while she prepared a tasty breakfast. Bubbling kettle water soon joined the harmony and cooking oil crackled avidly beneath brewing eggs. She parted the translucent blinds distracting the warm rays of light, giving the heavenly figure a set of pearly whites in return. If she knew retirement was this good, she would have taken it a long while ago. There were better things to do then compete with the dullwings for the rest of her life.

"Done!" She flagged one of the sandwiches with a toothpick-pierced olive. It was time to claim the prize for her 'hard labour'. Halfway into the living room, she realised that she had left the cup of coffee in the kitchen. She settled the tray of delicacies onto the closest table before marching back for the final piece of the puzzle.

A small blotch interrupted the morning's serenity in the form of the doorbell's tune. Slightly shaken, Leblanc calmed down with a sigh of relief. Mostly she was thankful that not a drop of hot beverage spilt over in her sudden hop.

The doorbell sang again but this time Leblanc was halfway there already. Using her free hand, she unlocked and turned the knob. She smiled mechanically as the door slowly revealed her visitor.

"Hi!" She greeted happily before re-looking the person. "H-hi…" Her voice trailed off. It was hardly a guest that stood on the other end of her shocked expression. Old regret and forgotten fears stuttered in her widened blue eyes. Trembling fingers could no longer support the grip on the mug, allowing the steamy drink to flow freely onto the welcome mat...

There went the morning.

ooOOoo

Yuna was surprised at how much she learnt to appreciate tranquillity over the years. Her morning routine had expanded, growing to accommodate hours for visiting the airship's deck. The elevated air was always fresh and supportive to the thought process. She sat on the warmed ruby surface, hugging her legs close to her chest and resting her chin on firm knees.

Despite the idle scenery, time snuck by, swiftly like the cool breezes pressing past her face. The previous week had been spent re-visiting Spira. She showed Milano her favourite locations, and the landmarks that made an appearance in her past journeys. As Yuna expected, Kilika had sailed fairly well with her friend's interests. Open seas had become Milano's preferred method of transportation, and knowing this, Yuna had done well to introduce her to the port.

Wakka, Lulu and the others welcomed Milano with open arms to their home of Besaid. The stay was rather enjoyable, and Yuna cherished the moment she convinced Milano to change the baby's diaper. It was a laughable shame that the child lacked the common sense to distinguish her face from a toilet bowl.

The memory returned Yuna to the conscious realm with a giggle. She smiled weakly, realising that she had spent more time on the deck than she should have. If anything, the fact that she was sitting in pyjamas half way into the day was an indication of this. Finding the sense to lift herself from the deceivingly comfortable position, Yuna left the open confines of the deck and descended into the Celsius.

With a sudden ping, the elevator came to rest on bridge level. She stepped into the bustling room cautiously. So many different sounds were active simultaneously, each sound considered noise to the next.

It puzzled her how Brother and Paine could enjoy a game of chess over Buddy's banging music. Even if they were seated in the corner, the music trampled every bit of serenity hidden in the room. The elevator shut closed behind her and escaped upward via its shaft.

Hearing this, Brother poked his head over Paine's shoulder and spotted Yuna standing there in white pyjamas, tiny blue poke dots scattered about the pants and shirt. Messy strands of morning hair lingered carelessly to the sides of her face, partially hindering her bright eyes. But for the moment, anything Brother needed to know could be found in the contagious smile connecting her ears.

"Good morn–er, afternoon to you too lady, Yuna." His salutations were unnecessarily formal but they still managed to bring giggles to her. "Look! I'm actually winning this time!" He pointed at the chess board.

How nice of Paine to take the time to teach Brother the game of chess, Yuna thought. The Celsius's autopilot feature took away from the captain's work. Not to mention with the rare occasion of missions they had these days, world travel wasn't as vigorous as it used to be. Yuna was just happy that Brother found something educational to dedicate his free time to. She gave him a wink for good luck. Knowing his competitor, he would need it.

Paine turned around to Yuna as well. "You're up early," she said sarcastically. Then she mimed the words 'I let him take my queen', so Brother couldn't detect them. Yuna covered her mouth, suppressing laughter, then gave Paine a wink with her other eye.

The two of them turned back to their game. Yuna was sure Paine was going to find a different board then she had left. That's how Brother was; his best moves were always made when his opponents weren't looking. Who in their right mind would let him move one of **_their_** pieces if they're watching after all? Even though Paine picked this up every time, she would never let on, but simply shake her head and sigh. The gesture signified the end of any mercy she my have granted him before. Though, she had to admit, without the illegal moves he made, the game would hardly be worth playing anyway. At least this way, there was a bit of a challenge.

Moving on, Yuna walked past the forever busy Shinra. The young boy genius slaved away on that computer of his most of the day. Sometimes she'd challenge him in a game of Sphere Break, knowing full well that the high percentage of the time she'd lose. The objective wasn't to win however, but give him the break he often denied himself. They exchanged hand waves as Yuna walked by.

Clicks and clatters of computer keys faded into the heavy music by the time she reached the bottom of the staircase. Buddy was a different kind of busy. As far as Yuna could tell, somewhere between the kicks and drums in the songs was some sort of satanic message that fooled his brain into making him **_move_** like that. On a really good day, he'd even challenge her to a dance contest. But sliding down the stair railing or swinging from the roof's lantern is where she drew the line between dancing and being a maniac.

And there he came at her, bopping his head like a drunken chicken and throwing his arms about as he glided closer. Before she could even greet him, he had grabbed a hold of her wrist, pulling her into a dance with him. Yuna knew better than to resist and entertained him as a dance partner for a bit. As the song came to an end, Buddy gave her one final twirl and a big dip.

"Good going, Yuna," he complemented, pulling her back to her feet. "One day, you'll be just as good as me."

"Not in a very long time," Yuna replied modestly, watching gleefully as Buddy moonwalked his way out of view.

To the far end of room, Rikku was doing a dance of her own to her favourite T.V. show. "Aw, poopie! I hate commercials."

Yuna headed towards her agitated cousin, plopping down besides her. "So what's up?"

"You mean apart from Buddy's volume?" Rikku pulled the cushion from beneath her bottom and threw it at Buddy behind her. "Turn it down! I can barely hear what I'm watching!"

That explained why she was sitting an inch in front of the screen, Yuna thought. "Meh, let him be, he's just trying to have some fun." She smiled, ignoring the booming melody that forced them to raise their voices at each other.

WHAM!

Something soft had collided firmly into the side of her head then dropped onto her laps. It was the cushion that Rikku threw before, returning with a vengeance, only it attacked the wrong person. Yuna frowned. "One second, Rikku." But she was stopped halfway in her stand by a strong grip pulling down on her wrist.

"Let him be, he's just trying to have some fun!" Rikku mocked, but Yuna wasn't exactly laughing. "Oh sit down!" She tugged her cousin hard back onto her bottom. "Besides, I've got something I know you'll be interested in."

The only time Rikku ever said that, was when she had some sort of gossip to spread, but this time, there were no shady glimmers evident in her green eyes. In fact, the playful teen managed to hold a straight face. Intrigued, Yuna sat down, resting her chin on her fists wisely. "Okay, you've got my attention. By the way, you just saved Buddy's life and if this isn't good, you're going to have to save your own."

Rikku gulped playfully.

"So, what is it?"

Pretence could only be taken so far, especially when the music reminded her of its presence every noisy second, pounding her ear drums with droning beats. Buddy hadn't taken notice of the lethal glare Rikku shot him. Something this important should've been told as oppose to read, but the disturbance left her no choice. She handed Yuna a piece of scrunched up paper she had picked up earlier in the cabin.

The flyer unfolded into something more readable in her hands. Keen eyes skimmed through the text rather quickly, growing wider at the final words. The shock cemented onto Yuna's face searched for an answer in her cousin's expression, and received a friendly smile accompanied with a nod of confirmation. Questions played on impatient lips, jumping on top of each other in a dispute to be asked first. Yuna leant to Rikku's side, positioning herself to place loud whispers into Rikku's ear.

"Where did you get this?"

"Somebody must've dropped it in the cabin." Green eyes scouted the area for potential eavesdroppers. "Who ever it was obviously didn't want us knowing about this. Realising how important this is to us all, they should've brought it up the moment they found out. But they didn't. I say we follow up on this. We'll find out who it is because they won't be surprised."

It sounded like a plan to Yuna. "Or, they'll be surprised that we found out. In that case, they would be promoting resistance, leading us straight to them." They nodded at once in agreement. One thing still troubled Yuna about the whole thing, however. She called Rikku forward with a finger to better whisper her concern. "But … why would anybody onboard keep this a secret?"

Rikku frowned. There was only one conclusion she could come up with. "Just because we're all on the same airship, doesn't mean we're all on the same boat."

ooOOoo

Restless anticipations travelled noisily amongst the small groups making up the diverse crowd cluttered on a huge corner of Mi'hen Highroad. Men, women and species of assorted kinds gathered to take part in the day's special event. The loud mass and intense sunshine seethed the courage brought along by some parties, while other nerves leaped more keenly with the passing time. In common, they all shared some interest in the first prize, which must've been worth **_a lot_** if the contenders (or victims) were required to survive the gruesome challenge with their lives intact.

Merchants would've been fools not to take advantage of the abundance of potential customers. Hotdog stands and small tuck-shops were stationed for every set of eyes to notice, regardless of their position in the crowd. Cool winds did their bit to counter the heat, but only nearly frozen beverages could pleasingly soothe most victims of the open sunlight. Penniless, and full of desperate courage, one kid snatched a can of soda from a nearby cooler box and ran for dear life, inadvertently brushing past a woman's black pants in his hasty escape.

"Ugh," Paine complained. "Kids."

Another one was coming, but this one, three feet taller and three belts wider. The pierced sausage on the end of his long fork shimmered like a weapon to threaten the young bandit. His stained apron and frantic complaints told her he was the owner of the stolen property. He looked like he wanted to get his hands on that that kid so bad, but the only place his hands were going were on his knees. Bent over and out of breadth, his attempt to capture the kid had been exhausted.

"Want me to hurt him?"

"… huh …?" He gasped between breadths. When he looked up, he was blinded by the long sparkling blade the grey-haired woman held out to him. "Er … generous offer … but – "

"Surely there are better ways to settle this," Yuna stepped in. She pulled out a couple of round, gold coins and patted them into the man's chest pocket. "That should cover it. You can keep any change left over." The man thanked her in shock before returning to his post.

Paine glared at the pleased smile on Yuna's face. "You're no fun."

Her words did nothing but amuse the former high summoner, granting her a giggle. Paine stared past the banner held high into the air, looking for something to keep her interested in sky. She wasn't even supposed to be there, and neither were they…

Yuna pulled out the flyer she crumbled into her pocket earlier and re-read it:

_Come, fun waits for all. _

_Whether kings, knaves, beasts or slaves_

_For death holds no prejudice for names _

_Still, great rewards await those who're brave_

_Live to the end, and take the glory we claim _

_The extraordinary Apula of Jade._

It was a good thing they found the advertisement when they did. Yuna didn't know what she would've done if she had lost this opportunity. Failure wasn't an option. Not for this mission. One down, they only needed three more Apulai. And then … She smiled hopefully, clenching the Azure Apula that rested on her chest.

"I wonder how serious they are when they say your 'grave could very well be on these grounds'," Rikku said grimly, and then found a laugh in it all. "Rin can be the quiet the drama king sometimes."

"Yeah," Yuna agreed, half distracted by a gang of shoopelo doing the Macarena. Their 'shinging" butchered what was left of the classic. "Er, are you sure we're in the right place?"

Rikku shrugged. The handout didn't say much about the location or time, but the commercial on T.V did say Mi'hen Highroad if she could recall correctly.

"We're in the right place alright," Paine stated confidently.

"How can you be so sure?"

A shrug of her head led them to the skies. Three brave riders descended from the high clouds on the backs of ferocious-looking beasts. The huge, scaly lizards bared long, black claws on their foot-long paws. Dark tamed eyes surveyed the grounds below hungrily, but dared not make a move unless ordered to by their riders, who, arguably, were the **_real_** beasts. The hooded figure riding the centre dragon was recognized by them all.

"Amu! He's the guy that tried to steal our Apula back in the desert!" Rikku exclaimed, her cheeks fuming a little at the memory. Thankfully, Yuna's long lost friend had come in the nick of time to win them back what was theirs. Rikku caught a half-smile Paine failed to hide as she observed the redhead rider. From past experience, asking her about it was the absolute wrong thing anyone could do. Instead, she thought back at the guests they had over a week back.

"Hey, Yunie. Do you think Milano's going to be here?"

"No need to think about it." Yuna pointed through the crowd towards Milano, who was half-devoured by the large mass. "What a surprise that she'd be here too. Looks like we've got competition."

"I wouldn't say the surprises are over just yet." Everybody gave Paine a blank look. She pointed her thumb over her shoulder. Yuna and Rikku's jaws dropped at the same time.

"LeBlanc?" They said together. It had been almost half a year since they last saw her.

"I thought she said she retired." Rikku remembered.

That was supposed to be the case, Yuna thought too. "I wonder what made her come back…"

** End Of Chronicle II, Part I **


	5. Chronicle II, Part 2

**Quick Backtrack**

_Leblanc got out of bed feeling very optimistic after the events of the previous night. Her good mood was shortly lived however, when the most unexpected visitor arrived at her doorstep. Meanwhile, on the Celsius, Yuna and Rikku discovered that there was some sort of competition taking place on Mi'ihen Highroad – the first prize being the Jade Apula. Somebody onboard had already known about this but didn't bother to tell anyone else. Finally, once the Gullwings got to the grounds, the biggest surprise of all was waiting for them, as they learnt the previously retired Leblanc too was entering the competition... _

**Author's Notes**

Disclaimer: I don't own any Final Fantasy Characters or anything mentioned from the franchise. This story was written for non-profitable purposes so please just read and enjoy people.

** The Invincibility of Choice **

.: A Tactless Tales Production :.

**Chronicle II, Part 2 – The Pursuit For Jade**

_3 Weeks Prior, Mi'ihen Highroad…_

Weightless clouds hung heavily in the heated afternoon's skies, casting gracious shadows that saved the busy fields of Mi'ihen from the sun's full-fledged onslaught. The gruelling battles below would need more than a bit of shade however, to calm the determination of its competitors.

With every fierce swing of the sword, Runy let out an even fiercer battle cry. Skin tore and bones cracked as steal cut through beast fur and flesh. The poor four, blue-furred, bear-like monsters were clearly out numbered by the combination of the man and his curved blade.

"One down," he counted, as he dropped the sharpest side of his blade straight between the eyes of one of the fiends. On cue, Pyreflies appeared to carry its carcass into the plane of the dead.

Runy was quite the decorated fighter to watch. Confidence moved in his every fibre. He hopped in position, almost excitedly, so that his body was only ever supported by one foot on the ground at a time. Out of confidence, or disrespect to his opponents perhaps, he would occasionally scratch through his spiky, orange hair with the hand free of his blade. Not even the enclosing three-fiend circle provoked enough concern to distract him from his flamboyant self.

The beasts inched closer with threateningly steady steps. Being the centre of attraction had never been so dangerous but Runy played it off slickly. All he needed to know was the order in which the fiends would attack. Once he got that down, the rest would be improvised without worry.

Snarls of the dripping fangs behind him alerted his ears. Not wasting a second, he swung around, with a low kick destined for the attacker's huge head. Instead, the fiend's parted teeth caught hold of his shoe, held in a vertical position that stretched its mouth open to the fullest. Runy flipped backwards, using his other foot to deliver a devastating uppercut that unleashed him from the fiend's grip. The launched beast lasted two painful seconds in the air before a renegade blade ran a course through its torso, heart, and then out again - another one down.

His sword twirled lively between his expert fingers, swishing through the air effortlessly. The two circling fiends looked on quietly at the silver blur in his hand. Their fierce eyes grew dizzy from following its perpetual movement. When waiting for the perfect opportunity had lost all appeal, raw instinct swept over one fiend, causing it to rush into an aggressive leap forward, baring its fangs with a wet snarl.

Looking over his shoulder, Runy caught the attack earlier than the fiend had anticipated. He span around swiftly, running the horizontal blade between a cave of dripping teeth and slicing through the corners of its stretched lips before finally losing momentum somewhere in its chest. Thick indigo oozed from the fresh streak running down from its snout. For the sake of the drenched sword, and the beast's mercy, the Pyreflies couldn't have come sooner, elegantly whisking its crippled corpse to the Farplane.

Runy rested crouched on a knee and concentrated, holding his dripping blade out with one hand. Mistaking his back for a weak point, the final fiend lunged for his neck. How clumsy, Runy thought. Without so much as moving his green eyes from the sands, he pressed the tip of his blade into the enemy's expected jaw. His blade climbed into the bottom of the fiend's snout and re-appeared as a bloody peak a small distance from its nose. Its death cry came as soon as the fateful blade was swiftly slipped out.

The ground echoed at the fallen body. Runy slowly got to his feet, refusing to pay the enemy so much as a glance as its remains were carried away. His eyes flashed, and his blade followed, repelling every drop of blue blood until its shiny, silver base was returned. He smiled and winked a certain direction before confidently walking away from the victory with his sword hung over the shoulder.

ooOOoo

"Impressive."

Paine summoned an honest half-smile. Both his skill and arrogance had climbed to new grounds over the missing years. But his charming gestures never changed. Still obvious, still undeveloped and still him. She shook her head. She had to stop thinking like this. Whenever she did, rivers of past regrets would come flooding back, hard.

"You mean the match … or him?"

She washed back her thoughts in a long blink, then followed the interruptive voice, finding Rikku's wide beam where it had come from. This recent interest that the young Al Bhed had adopted was rather annoying. Sometimes it felt like she was searching through Paine's life, each question poking deeper into her history, trying to find records best kept buried. As one could imagine, Paine didn't take kindly to the intrusion. She turned to her fellow Gullwings with crossed arms, and those grave grey eyes of hers.

"It looks like the Dragonites passed the qualification rounds too," she informed them, having just seen the match take place.

Avoiding Rikku's question was a temporarily solution, as always, but this time, the blonde girl interpreted Paine's evasion as confirmation to her suspicions. "I think he's cute too." The statement sounded completely out of place, bringing an awkward silence amongst the three of them.

Yuna gently rocked her shoulders left and right with her hands behind her back. The conversation beckoned her to save it from extinction. This had become a common occurrence over this past week, and she started to believe she was getting better at it. "I think we all saw that one coming. Amu and his boys are almost as desperate for the Apulai as we are," she pointed out, choosing to reply to Paine's words.

_Almost as desperate as **you** are_, Paine corrected in her mind. The only reason she was chasing after these stones was because Yuna asked her to. Also, on some other grounds, friendship perhaps, she felt she owed it to her.

"I think I'll go get us some drinks?" Having been somewhat ignored by the both of them, Rikku felt a bit out of place and needed to take a little stroll to gather herself. Thankfully, Yuna nodded and smiled to her this time, sending her a reply that necessarily reminded her she wasn't invisible. "Three drinks, coming up!" With that, she dashed happily through the crowd.

"Heh, she better save some of that energy for the race," came a light-hearted voice from behind them.

Yuna and Paine turned around to find Milano and Tiara standing beside one another. Both of them were dressed in their preferred Dresspheres: Milano's attire consisted of the cobalt swimsuit armour that shined a metallic colour over her body, matching boots, gloves and a dark cape, whilst Tiara was dressed in a casual red, sleeveless skirt, falling halfway down her thighs and tall brown boots that climbed a little above her knees. The teams greeted each other with smiles and nods.

Milano shrugged brunette locks to the back of her shoulder as she crossed her arms in a pose to rival Paine's. "We've been to see Rin." The host of the event was difficult to consult on such a busy day. Considering all the trouble they had to go through, she didn't think Yuna's gang managed to meet him at all. "I thought you might want hear what he had to say."

"Sure!" Anything that could help them prepare was welcome to Yuna's ears.

Milano couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. They were friends now, but out on that field, they would be competitors and nothing more. She believed Yuna was aware of this, but sometimes, she wasn't so sure. Her grey-haired buddy, on the other hand, seemed to be too familiar with the concept of competition. She wanted the information and nothing more.

"I'm sure you already know that it's going to be a race by now." Yuna and Paine nodded before Milano continued. "More specifically, a relay race. Only the top ten teams to pass the qualification round will be entered. Heh, so far, seventy-five percent of all entrants haven't made it, and more than half of those lost their lives." Silence took over briefly as a stray wind blew past their solemn expressions.

"No one forced them to enter," Paine stated boldly.

"I suppose," Tiara spoke up, unable to completely mask the sorrow in her voice. "Rin says the race is going to be worse. They're three stages, and each team assigns one member to each of these stages. The first team member must navigate through the trap infested course. Once they complete their goals and reach the checkpoint, they pass the marker to next team member who makes their way through their own mini course before handing the marker to the last member at the next checkpoint, who will complete the race. The last three teams to arrive at the checkpoints will be eliminated … assuming they make it to the checkpoints alive, of course."

"Sounds like fun." If they defeated the great Vegnagun than overcoming some measly obstacle course Rin put together should be child's play, Paine reasoned. "Well, we're in. So Yuna, who's going first on our team?"

"You are?" Milano said, a little surprised. "I didn't see your qualification match."

"That's because it didn't last very long."

"All thanks to Paine's Full Throttle Dresshpere," Yuna acknowledged. She and Rikku had also participated but Paine made the job particularly easier. Paine simply grinned proudly at the comment. "We didn't see your match either, but that's probably because we got here late. You should've seen the Dragonites, or Dragonite. They had one member do it alone, taking on all ten beasts! How cocky is that?"

Milano chuckled. "Confidence is one thing Amu and his troops will never be short of. This thing could start any second," she said, glimpsing at her wristwatch. "We better start looking for that third, **_male_**, member of ours." Tiara and Milano rolled their eyes in chorus. "See you two in the race. And, Yuna, good luck." Her black cape whipped around, fluttering in the wind as the two walked away.

Speaking of third members, "Rikku's taking an awful long time with those drinks," Yuna realised.

ooOOoo

The queue's tiring length gave Rikku plenty of time to sort through her thoughts. She still didn't know what to make of Milano, her cousin's past friend that just happened to show up at the perfect time to help them recapture the Azure Apula, and selflessly return it to Yuna. That action still puzzled her; it was obvious Milano wanted the Apulai just as much they did, her entering this event proved that. So why would she give an Apula up so easily? There had to be a catch somewhere.

Her feet carried her forward almost subconsciously as the line got shorter. Maybe she was thinking too much of it and Milano really did it purely out of friendship. She could trust Yuna's judgement, couldn't she? An apology was probably due for her hasty evacuation back there. Yuna and Paine didn't know it, but part of the reason she left them so quickly was because she spotted Milano approaching. If she was wrong about her, she would feel pretty awful about the way she had been treating her.

Another step forward and she progressed in the line. Another Apula today and they would have progressed with the mission. Adding the Jade emerald to the Azure they already had, would set them on the halfway mark of the Fayth's request. Once all four Apulai were collected and handed to the Fayth, in turn, Tidus's memories would be gathered and used to bring him back!

"Next!"

Rikku sighed in relief, having finally reached the front of the queue. The only thing more familiar than the vendor's voice was his face. "Are you still following me?"

"You wish." Gippal chuckled at her arrogance. "A friend of mine asked me to help out. I'm taking care of things here while she's away."

She? Rikku thought, mildly concerned. "I don't remember you being _this_ kind with me."

Gippal crossed his arms and simply watched her bitter-sweet smile for a moment. "It's not what you think." He wasn't sure what else to say. An abrupt cough interrupted from the man behind his present customer. Poking his head around her, Gippal briefly lifted the patch over his right eye, realising just how the long snake trailing behind Rikku was. "Tell you what, Cid's girl. Stop by Djose if you want to finish this little conversation. But right now I've got tons of customers to attend to. We wouldn't want them to start complaining now would we?"

There was that 'all business' attitude of this, Rikku recalled. As much as she hated to admit it, he was right again. This was hardly the place or time to handle personal matters. She gave him her order as any other normal customer would. Moments later, he produced three party cups, filled with a green sweetness that shimmered over crushed ice. She paid him a smile as he handed her change.

She took the drinks to the closest table, resting them there as she deposited the Gil into the sachet around her waist. When she turned her attention back to the cups, she found that they had disappeared.

"Aw, for us? You shouldn't have." On the other side of the table, Leblanc and her two henchmen held the cups close to their lips tauntingly.

Already agitated by having to wait in the line for so long, not to mention being unable to talk to Gippal, Rikku really didn't feel like being her cheery self. "Not now, Leblanc. I'm not in the mood."

"Oh? But you looked like you were in the mood a little while ago when you were ordering these drinks." Leblanc glanced over to the man across the counter with a knowing smile. She took a sip of the cream soda but quickly spat it out to the ground beside her. "It's almost as bad as your taste in men," she said bitterly. "What does he hope to achieve with that patch over his eye anyway? Figure faking a disability would invoke some sort of sorrow that would increase his chances with women, did he?"

The two goons to her sides joined in her little triumphant laugh. Rikku could feel the spite rattling her nerves. She knew she was about to say something she would regret but she couldn't stop herself. "At least he's faking his disability. Not only is that … **_cripple_** … struggling on his feet everyday, but he must suffer the embarrassment of waking up next to you every morning as well."

Leblanc's face turned pale as all the humour was drained from it, and replaced with a growing animosity. Even Logos and Ormi, on the safe side of her fury, feared her at that very moment. Her long nails dug deep into the paper cups, green juice flowing down her hand from the marks she created. An angry crimson began burning in her trembling cheeks.

Not only did Rikku know she had to apologise, she honestly felt like she needed to. "Leblanc…" She started with a sigh. "I didn't mean it. It's just – AHHHH!" She screamed in horror as the freezing beverage slapped her face, small chunks of ice crashing around her. The cream soda partially blinded her, rendering her completely unaware of attack to come. Leblanc delivered a strong backhand to her jaw that sent her flying a few feet into the air.

Rikku cried out as the pain exploded down her crashing spine. Tears involuntary leaked down her cheeks. She struggled to a sitting position, watching Leblanc approach her with a malevolent frown. She apologised already, but if Leblanc expected to her to sit back and take a beating as well, she would be sadly mistaken, especially since it was partly her fault too. The sole of her boot caught the former sphere hunter hard in the stomach. Rikku used the time Leblanc stumbled back to get to her feet.

By now, a small crowd had gathered around them and more people were re-directing their attention by the minute. Rikku slapped dust off her shoulder before charging forward with a raised fist. To her surprise, her attack was caught cleanly in Logos's strong grip. Ormi injected himself into the scene as well, holding Rikku's other arm behind her back. She struggled violently, and even attempted to step on their feet, but the two men were simply too powerful for her smaller stature.

To add to her problems, Leblanc threw a series of fists to her unprotected abdomen. She yelped in pain as she helplessly took each punch. The situation was clearly unfair. A few men in the crowd thought of interfering but quickly changed their minds when they found themselves looking straight into the barrel of Logos's pistol.

Gippal leapt over the counter and rushed to the young Al Bhed's aid, thinking up a plan as he hurried along. He would've come more equipped if he knew such a situation would call for it. The only weapons he had now were his bare fists.

"Idiot," Logos sneered as he watched the brave fool quicken his pace. The young lad intended to catch them off guard by attacking from the back but Logos caught him moments before he could execute his plan, slamming the pistol into his neck in a quick motion. Gippal was knocked out instantly. Blood stained the soil as it seeped from somewhere behind his head.

Still, he had helped more than he knew. The brief distraction gave Rikku the edge she needed to break free from Logos's hold, elbowing him in the stomach before kicking free from the shorter chubby man. The crowd cheered loudly at the change in momentum. Swarms of men and women jumped on top of the downed men, teaching them the principles of a fair fight by ironically pounding on them by the dozen.

The crowd's assistance let Rikku and Leblanc sort out their issues more privately. Yelps and crude language were all side affects of the ferocious tussle. The two women were rolling in the dirt, exchanging blows and insults for long, brutal seconds before Yuna and Paine had finally arrived. They quickly got to work on ending the fight, pulling their fellow Gullwing off of Leblanc.

"Calm down!" Yuna screamed into Rikku's ear. One would think Yuna and Paine were enemies, the way Rikku struggled to break free from their holds as well.

Logos and Ormi did the same to restrain Leblanc. "Let's go, Boss. She aint worth it."

It took a good while before both of them had reduced their anger to ugly glares directed at each other. Both of them stood trembling, covered in their new suits of dust.

"Humph!" Leblanc shrugged off her henchmen's grips. "Next time, keep that bitch on a leash," she spat, pointing a finger at Rikku, who simply concentrated on slowing down her heavy breathing. A busted lip, black eye and few cuts made it seem like Leblanc had gotten the worse of that exchange. Rikku hadn't escaped scar free either; she had bruises on her tummy and a huge cut running down her bottom lip.

With nothing more to say to her, Leblanc took her leave, ordering her goons to follow her.

Yuna shook her head, thoroughly disappointed. "Let's get you cleaned up. The race is starting any minute now."

ooOOoo

"Slow down, boss," Ormi complained, still limping from the beating he got from random people in the crowd. "I thought we were entering the race too."

"Not necessary," Leblanc said without looking back. "We've already got what we came for."

"We have?" Logos asked, confused. "But boss, all we got was an ass kicking. And when the Gullwings are involved, we usually get those whether we come for them or not."

"Shut up! Just, shut up!" Their ignorance was starting to get on her nerves. She didn't realise that it was because she hardly ever filled them in on all the details. "There's more a lot more to this. Heh…" That confident smirk managed to creep onto her strained face, concealing something devious. "I just hope that bitch appreciates what I've gone through for her."

** End Of Chronicle II, Part 2 **


	6. Chronicle III, Part 1

**Quick Backtrack**

_After a string of qualification matches, the Gullwings along with the Dragonites and eight other teams, including Milano's, progress to the main event. Rikku and Leblanc engage in a fist fight over a small argument. Leblanc limps away from the scene, but happy nevertheless, having taking what she came to Mi'ihen Highroad for in the first place…_

**Author's Notes**

Disclaimer: I don't own any parts of the Final Fantasy franchise. All copyrighted materials belong to their appropriate owners. This is a non-profitable story, written purely for entertainment.

Sorry about the late update, got side tracked with other projects. Hm … I feel like these past chapters have been a little too slow. You can tell me what you think in your reviews. Any criticism is appreciated. And thanks to all those who've reviewed thus far. Things should pick up in the next chapter. :)

** The Invincibility of Choice **

.: A Tactless Tales Production :.

**Chronicle III, Part 1 – A Prize To Die For**

_3 Weeks Prior, Mi'ihen Highroad…_

The sounds of strenuous labour flickered lively in the weapon shop's airless space. Every two seconds, sharp squeals broke the silent air, produced by the heavy knocks of a sledge hammer against steel. The work was tiring, impossible to those untrained, but the blacksmith whistled his way through it all.

Nothing smelt more like achievement than the smooth baking of arsenal. It was this passion infused into his every sword that ultimately built his reputation amongst world spread experts. He rested the hammer on a nearby stool, and wiped his brow with the back of a thick glove. Sweat drenched the muscle shirt onto his brawny chest, and coated a damp shine over his strong arms, outlining yet another advantage of the job. He was awarding himself with a peck to the biceps when an interruption rang from the next room.

The bell continued to ring impatiently, announcing the customer's arrival at least three more times before the shop owner could get to the counter. The abusive finger retreated from the visitor's bell.

His own impatient glare grew soft when he noticed the state she was in. Her battered attire hid beneath a layer of golden sand, with only a few faint spots of pink left of its usual brilliance. The sands seemed to reach her everywhere, spreading a grainy tan up her arms and deep into her cheeks, sparing cerulean eyes that shimmered like an oasis on the desert of a face.

"Can I help you?" His gruff voice struggled to express his meek sympathy.

She slammed something onto the counter. "There. I was told that's all you need for the order." Her voice was a lot stronger than her appearance would suggest. All business was the attitude.

He eyed her curiously, taking a quick glimpse at the deposit she left on the desk before returning his gaze to her face. He knew what she was looking for…

But there were only a select few who knew about his … other talents. Given its cunning absence from the eye of the law, it was essential that the practice was approached with much caution, which meant his customer base could consist of only trusted members.

"Who referred you to me?"

Leblanc took another sigh. Despite her sincere efforts, the name always slithered its way back into her mind. The only thing worse than acknowledging it, was to have to speak it.

ooOOoo

This was it.

Unlike the other nine competitors crouched before the starting line, dealing with tension and anxiety, all sorts of additional emotions were racing inside Yuna, seconds before the big race was due to begin.

Desperation was etched into her tapping boot, so eager. Losing wasn't an option for her. Not if she wanted him to come back. From the second she realised he was missing, his return had become the object of her passion's lust. It was unhealthy, the amount time she spent thinking of him, and she knew it. But that didn't mean she had any control over it.

She would do anything to have him back, and would readily push herself pass the limit, even to the death, before losing this race. This was only half a life; he took the other half with him when he left. And now, like a lover possessed, she wouldn't stop until she got back what was hers.

Her own thoughts were louder than anything else that should've concerned her. She barely detected the voice over the megaphone announce 'ready, set' and subconsciously lifted her bosom. A shot was fired into the air, hurling the racers into frantic sprints.

Yuna neglected the girly flair that usually defined her run. This time, the swings her arms took were purely for momentum. Despite the mad adrenaline pulsing in her body, she struggled to keep first place. She could hear the rapid rhythm of feet drumming ever so closely behind her. What a time to get tired, she panted.

After two kilometres of the clear path stretched out between plant fields, fatigue began to creep up her working legs, leaving its mark in every muscle it touched. Yuna fought through a burning chest and biting stomach, but her first acquaintance with this type of endurance came too late. Her speed tired more and more with the each step. She would've yelled out in frustration if her lungs weren't preoccupied as a short Hypello steadily stole the lead from her.

It was disappointing that its tiny blue legs could carry it further and for longer than Yuna's could serve her. Even more disappointing was that Tiara swooped into view, pushing past Yuna as she chased after first place. Milano would've been proud of her partner, Yuna thought. She panted forward, desperate to escape from her third place predicament when something came to mind.

Up till this point, the race had been anything but dangerous. As the uneasiness circled her mind, Yuna read the bold letters of a wooden sign on the sidelines. 'Hollow ground. Listen to the earth.' The words seem to hop as seen through her jogging eyes.

"What's that?" She breathed curiously, turning her eyes back to the road with a start.

The very ground beneath her began to grumble. Tiara turned back to Yuna, sending her a confused face that told her she heard it too.

Yuna yelped in surprise as the land started to shake. She lost her balance and fell to her knees and palms. Vibrations crawled beneath her earthed fingers. This was definitely real. Gasps of commotion confirmed it from behind her but, the two leaders in front of her strived to keep their feet grounded. She looked up and watched them struggle forward.

The quake grew restless. With a booming grumble, the ground gave into itself, a huge void cutting horizontally across the course from the far ends. The Hypello in lead jumped on its heels at once. But it was moving too fast for its manual break system to stop it soon enough. It screamed in horror as it tumbled straight into the dark void that had been solid earth just seconds before.

Foreign fingers wrapped around its thin forearm, ending its fall prematurely with a violent tug.

"Come on!" Tiara screamed, feeling herself losing her balance at the edge of the make-shift cliff. The Hypello greatly appreciated the effort but was too frightened to make use of it. If it didn't start climbing back up, Tiara knew it was going to take both of them down. "I got you, just climb up! Come – Ah!' Her clumsy boots slid over the edge.

Friendly fingers caught hold of her forearm. "That was close!" Yuna gave back the smile she received from Tiara. In one strong tug, she pulled Tiara, who in turn, pulled the Hypello back to safety, all of them landing awkwardly in the sand. They sighed in union, relieved.

"Now what?" Yuna worried, struggling to a sitting position. A huge black board rose from the gap in the earth. Millions of tiny circles were indented all across its area. "Are those…" Yes, they were. Thick, stainless needles poked out from the indents.

The Hypello, Tiara, Yuna, and all the other racers behind were facing the large bed of needles staring at them. Then, without warning, a needle darted out, zooming through the air at an invisible speed. They all gasped. At least it hadn't hit anyone, they all sighed. After a long wait, another darted out from another section of the board, then another, and another, the time between each shot growing shorter.

The anxiety felt cold in Yuna's face. The bed of needles was more than five metres tall, and impossibly wide. They may have been lucky that the first few were not headed their way, but with the millions of needles left (and one flying free every split second), and the enormous space the board covered, every one of them were going to suffer a painful death by the time it was all over.

"Yuna!" Tiara stressed. "The sign we passed back there! It-it said there was some hollow ground around here!"

Yuna remembered the sign but she had already decided the void, that unfortunately was now filled, was the hollow ground in question.

WHOOSH!

She gasped, stumbling back fearfully as a needle raced right passed her nose. The first cry of a needle's success wailed through the tense air.

All Yuna could think of was avoiding the same fate. She laid flat on her back, reasoning that most of the needles were designed to strike a standing body.

Tiara was one step ahead of her. Her ear stayed close to the surface as she crawled along pounding random spots. By the time Yuna figured out what she was listening for, she had already spelt it out to the former High Summoner. "Here's one! Quick!"

Yuna sprung back to her feet, realising she had to execute as fast as possible. She yelped in pain as a needle scraped past the side of her shin, carving a thin crimson line of its path. But she couldn't let it slow her down.

The two girls hurried into a back-to-back position above the ground Tiara had selected. Yuna drew her twin pistols and aimed for the ground. A hail of bullets drew a circle around them. They wailed when the earth beneath them suddenly collapsed. The landing was hard, squashed, and safe.

It turned out the fields were riddled with underground cubicles just like this one. "I wonder if the others figured it out," Tiara hoped, dusting herself off a little.

"Sure doesn't sound like it…" Yuna submitted in a low voice. The cries above suggested otherwise.

The light pouring down the entrance was disturbed by a bundle of desperation dropping into their shelter. The abrupt present from the heavens crashed on top of them. A chorus of groans followed.

"Oh hell," Tiara shared what her spine was screaming at her.

" … oh heaven … " Something slithered, piled on top them. It appeared to have found something soft and tender to toy with in the dark.

Yuna shrieked her disapproval when she realised. Suddenly forgetting her exhaustion, she shoved the intruder off of her and shot back to her feet. Her arms were crossed protectively over her chest.

The stranger was slowly revealed as their eyes re-adjusted to the light. Long bangs fell over his pale features, covering his right eye with a silver curtain. The red tuxedo was his multi-purpose uniform. It served for both formal events and public outings such as this one. Yuna recognized him immediately, and so did Tiara.

"Ladies," Klamour greeted in as much of a polite hiss as he could. Something burning in the women's eyes told him they weren't going to let him off that easy. He shrugged, holding his hands up innocently. "It was dark. A common mistake, I -"

His pending apology was stopped by a loud scream from the both of them. It appeared that a strange object had somehow rolled right down into their hole, and onto his open hand. Upon closer inspection, he discovered it was a severed, Hypello head. A bony tail hung from its partially visible skull, blood drooping profusely from the putrid artefact. They all recognized who it belonged to.

"… and we worked so hard to save him from falling into that cliff," Tiara said through a mouth muffled by her palm. She was deeply saddened, as was Yuna. Apparently it was too much to expect compassion from a member of the Dragonites.

"Now that's what I call getting **_ahead_** of the competition." Naturally, he was the only one that found his statement amusing. The dripping head was held away with his infamous, lizard-like hand, eyes circling it almost excitedly.

What kind of twisted creature was fascinated by a brutal death? Tiara questioned whether she was safer down here with him, or up there with the thick, soaring needles. It didn't take long to come up with an answer. "Yuna, you think it's safe for us to go back up yet?"

"Er – "

"Only one way to find out," Klamour butted in. Using his most powerful underhand swing, he hurled the make-shift ball high up, and into the dangers of the open air. What went up was said to come down, and so it did, but only in a shower of big blobs of blood. The females squealed at the new colour dumped onto their attires while Klamour barely noticed. "Guess not," he answered her question.

Uncomfortably, they waited silently for the needles to settle. After a long while, Yuna caressed her arms that were getting cold from inactiveness. "Think it's safe now?"

All three of them looked up to the opening. Tiara looked at the stains on her shoulders and remembered what happened to the head on its final flight. The same fright was certainly travelling through the other two's minds. But where were they going to find a volunteer for something this risky? A smirk touched her lips as she recalled Klamour hadn't yet been educated on the limits of freedom his hands had. She looked at Yuna and found the same smirk on her face.

"HEY! It was an accident! I didn't know what I was doing! It was dark! I couldn't see anything! Put me down!" Klamour slowly opened his eyes – wait, he still had eyes to open? The huge board of needles was no longer there! He surveyed the area and found two ravaged corpses far away. Unlucky, and stupid too, he thought. It was a good thing he followed – er - accidentally stumbled into Yuna's little pit when he did.

"So?" Yuna asked, getting tired of giving him a boost by the shoe. "Is it safe?"

"I think," Tiara panted, holding the rest of his weight, "since his head hasn't been filled with holes yet … we can assume … that … it **_is_** safe."

Yuna sighed. "Good." Together, they removed their hands from beneath his feet. He dropped from the sudden lack of support, crashing hard on his bottom.

Yuna climbed out of the small hole first, and then gave Tiara a hand out too, both ignoring the noisy Dragonite's complaints. When they looked into the void where the board had been resting they noticed something dangerously peculiar. "It's reloading! We have to find a way across before it's fully equipped again."

A Ronso came out of nowhere and gave one huge leap across the long void. They both watched in awe, unsure of which was more amazing: the fact that anything could jump that far, or the fact that a heavy Ronso could even jump more than half a metre into the air.

"That's one way, I guess," Tiara admitted. "But I've got my own method."

"Oh? What is it?"

Tiara looked at her oddly. Yuna sounded a lot more interested than a normal competitor should have. She didn't plan on filling in her opponent just yet. She pulled out an arrow from the packet strapped to her back and tied the small thin rope, which had been coiled in her pocket, around it. She fired the arrow into a tall tree on the other side of the void. After securing the rope, she finally turned back to Yuna. "Sorry, but this is a race." And with that, she sailed her way across, leaving Yuna to derive a plan of her own.

"Wha-?" Yuna complained, but quickly realised that that wasn't going to get her far. Creases surfaced upon her brow as she thought hard of a way to get across. She almost jumped up in excitement when she realised how simple the solution was. And here she thought it would never come in handy, she rolled her eyes as she extracted something from a small bag around her waist.

It was the golden Chocobo feather Brother had given her a while back. She blessed the present with a gentle kiss and watched as it hovered before her. The golden aura it produced wrapped around Yuna's body, lifting her feet of the ground.

"The Float ability!" She announced to no one in particular. With the help of the enchanted feather's gift, she effortlessly ran across thin air to get to the other side of the void.

The final obstacle for her leg of her race came into view. The ramp sloped upwards to a flat pinnacle. Beneath the checkpoint's fluttering banner, candidates for the next leg of the race waited for their team members. Yuna pulled the cylindrical marker from her belt as she touched ground once again. She sped for the ramp at full force, desperately hoping Rikku could regain the lead.

If she couldn't … Yuna didn't know what she would do.

** End of Chronicle III, Part 1 **


End file.
